Award-winning craft tequila brand owner, 17-year cancer survivor, and loving wife. These are just many titles that Nayana Ferguson holds as her name and tequila brand continues to gain traction and worldwide success. Ferguson founded her tequila brand alongside her husband, Don, in August 2017, and since then, Anteel Tequila has become one of the world’s most successful Black Woman-owned tequila brands. They’ve secured over 50 awards and accolades, such as the SIP Award and San Francisco World Spirits Competition, and have generated over $1 million in sales.
Anteel Tequila isn’t just hitting shelves across Michigan, Oklahoma, and New York but it’s touching hearts as Nayana Ferguson is a pioneer to many cancer survivors and Black Women entrepreneurs, who look to her growing brand as inspiration. We caught up with the connoisseur to discuss the beginnings and latest of the growing brand.
EMOIR: Nayana, why the name Anteel Tequila? What’s the inspiration behind the word and its unique origin?
NF: Back in 2016, I surprised my husband with a birthday trip to the Dominican Republic, but he surprised me by proposing while we were on the trip! We saw hummingbirds while celebrating our engagement and my husband’s birthday. We later discovered that they were Antillean Crested Hummingbirds, which are said to be good luck. Fast forward to 2017, when we were in the early stages of launching our business, we landed on the name Anteel Tequila and made the official logo a hummingbird. The hummingbird is a significant part of our story; therefore, we incorporated it into our brand.
EMOIR: What made you and your husband decide to start this brand? What was the process of starting the business?
NF: My husband and I were slightly burned out from the corporate 9-to-5 culture, and he was a tequila enthusiast. One day I asked my husband if he could create a business, what would it be. He told me he would start a tequila company, but we could not. So I asked him, “Why not?” I decided to prove him wrong by researching distilleries in Mexico that we could partner with to develop our unique tequila recipe. In two days, I found the distillery that we work with today. After working with the U.S. and Mexican governments and multiple rounds of taste tests in eleven months, we launched on the market in 2018.
EMOIR: What types of Tequila do you sell? Where are they produced? Why the chosen names such as “Anteel Blanco Tequila”?
NF: We currently have four tequila expressions available in our portfolio: our Blanco, Reposado, Blood Orange, and Coconut Lime Blanco Tequila. All our products are created and bottled in Mexico, as tequila is trademarked by the Mexican government, meaning that to be considered authentic, it must be produced in Mexico.
We partner with Destiladora del Valle de Tequila (Casa Maestri), NOM 1438. Our decision to work with them was based on their award-winning history. For all our expressions, the chosen names combine the brand name, Anteel, and their distilling process.
Blanco tequilas are not aged, and Reposado tequilas are aged for at least two months, whereas our Reposado is aged eight months in charred Tennessee whiskey barrels. In addition, we created the world’s only Coconut Lime Blanco Tequila to express that our customers can enjoy neatness without any added sugars or mixers. Following the success of our Coconut Lime Blanco Tequila, we took the brand a step further and launched the first Tarocco Blood Orange expression. Both expressions also taste great when used for cocktails too!
EMOIR: How does your Tequila get its specific flavor? Any personal favorite flavors you like to incorporate?
NF: All of our expressions are made with 100% Blue Weber Agave plants from Mexico and include specific ingredients that make them unlike any other tequila on the market:
- Our Reposado is aged for eight months in charred Tennessee whiskey barrels, and the agave plant adds a sweet, light caramel and vanilla tone to the whiskey finish
- The Blanco also includes sweet agave and subtle floral notes that create one of the smoothest Blanco tequilas in the world
- Our Coconut Lime Blanco tequila is infused with natural flavors from the meat of the coconut and lime
- The Blood Orange Blanco tequila is infused with natural flavors from Tarocco Blood Oranges grown in Sicily, Italy
EMOIR: What are some rewards and challenges of owning and operating this business?
NF: A challenge when operating a spirits business is that you never clock out compared to a corporate job or 9-to-5. With operating a business, you sometimes do not have days off. You must take a role in every aspect of the business, marketing, promotion, logistics, financials, content creation, and so much more. Everything about the business relies on you, and you are responsible for your personal and business success. When something does not go as planned, the lows are extremely low; however, when something in the business comes together, it feels like none other. You feel pride in seeing what you have built come to life. If you do not have the lows to balance the highs in business, the highs will not taste as sweet.
EMOIR: As the first Black Woman-owned tequila brand, what has this success and impact meant to you?
NF: As the first Black Woman to have ownership and lead a tequila brand, the success has been a complete honor. We did not know I was a pioneer in the industry when we started the company; the information was discovered about a year after entering the marketplace. Once it was discovered, the narrative received a lot of attention and support from people worldwide. I hope it continues to inspire more Black Women to pursue their dreams, especially in the spirits industry.
EMOIR: Any advice for young Black Women who wish to start a brand or business, or an alcohol and tequila business?
NF: Be yourself, be honest, and be genuine. Learn all you can about the industry and be open to mentoring or consulting with others in the industry. Above all, do not let fear stop you from moving forward, and know you have something to offer the world.
EMOIR: Where do you see your legacy in a few years? What’s next for Anteel Tequila?
NF: I want to continue advocating for pancreatic cancer survivors in a few years. As a 17-year pancreatic cancer survivor, I’m passionate about encouraging those battling that fight. Serving as a national advocate for PanCan, the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, has been an honor.
I also hope to guide other business owners interested in scaling and growing their businesses. For Anteel Tequila, we are aiming to launch our following expression, which will be an Anejo. Over the next few years, I hope to continue expanding Anteel Tequila with the help of our incredible investors and consultants, Pronghorn, a brand incubator and venture firm that Diageo backs. We want to make Anteel Tequila a national brand in the U.S. and expand internationally.
Becoming a successful pioneer for Black Women Entrepreneurs of the craft spirits industry might not of been what Nayana Ferguson foresaw, but now her legacy is cemented and will only evolve from here. With the tagline Create Your Legacy being the ultimate message of her brand, Black Women around the world can establish their own legacy, become apart of history, and master their goals.
